Special Interests

Corporations love to talk about what they are doing to combat climate change. In TV ads and sustainability reports, corporations tout their efforts to increase efficiency, utilize clean energy, and ultimately achieve “net-zero” emissions.

But as Popular Information previously reported, these claims are often misleading and incomplete. A February report by the NewClimate Institute of 25 major corporations that pledged to reach net-zero found they have collectively made commitments to reduce just 20% of their current carbon footprint by 2040. The NewClimate Institute also found many of the plans to reach net-zero contain “subtle details and loopholes” that allow significant carbon emissions to continue or rely on dubious carbon offsets that do not actually contribute to carbon emissions reductions.

Amazon, for example, presents itself as a corporate leader on climate change. It even purchased the naming rights for the home of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken and called it “Climate Pledge Arena.” But the NewClimate Institute’s report found that Amazon’s pledge to reach net-zero emissions “remains unsubstantiated without any explicit reduction target for the company’s own emissions.” Amazon provides almost no information on so-called “Scope 3” emissions, which includes emissions from the goods sold by Amazon.